Mary renault the king must die ebook

Richly imbued with the spirit of its time, this is a page-turner as well as a daring act of imagination. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary Renault including rare images of the author. It was there that she met her lifelong partner, fellow nurse Julie Mullard.

After completing her training, Renault wrote her first novel, Purposes of Love , in There, Renault wrote the historical novels that would define her career. In , Renault was the subject of a BBC 4 documentary, and her books, many of which remain in print on both sides of the Atlantic, are often sought after for radio and dramatic interpretation.

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By: Mary Renault. Write a Review. Wishlist Wishlist. Advanced Search Links. Add To Cart. A Raisin in the Sun - eBook. The Thirty-Nine Steps - eBook. Lincoln's Army - eBook. Introduction to Classical Studies: Student Guide. I sat down to think, on the root of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand above the ground, I saw my way.

It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would just reach to wedge under the oak root. The bundle distasted me; I wished my work undone, and the hidden fate left sleeping in the earth.

Then I shook myself like a dog, and snatched at the cloth and jerked it. Gold tumbled and flashed in the light. Some knowledge came to me, that I must not let the thing fall to the ground, that it would be a bad omen.

I am a man who can move quickly on a thought, and I caught it in mid-air. Then I knew why it must not fall. It was a sword. The cloth had kept clean the hilt from earth. The grip was a cunning knot of twisted serpents; their outthrust heads made the guard, and their tails overlapped the blade, which, though green with time, was perfect still, the work of a master swordsmith.

He was a gentleman, at least. She picked up the comb, and pulled her hair forward. If he has neither, he may still be a good son to you in Troizen.

So keep him there. Why send him to die in Athens? I found myself rooting about in my memory, struggling to recall the Greek mythology that I studied as an undergraduate student, as I evaluated this lovely historical fantasy. My memory is rather hazy, but I think that Renault did a remarkably lovely job of formulating the myth into a plausible tale.

Oh, to have that youthful energy later in life! View all 8 comments. Aug 10, Spencer Orey rated it it was amazing Shelves: ancient-greece-rome. I was amazed by how this portrayal of ancient Greece hinges on the description of specific practices.

How Theseus is treated in formal and personal situations, how he expects to be treated, and what happens he enters into cultural contexts foreign to him all do so much to bring the world to vivid life. I learned about how far you can get by writing short insights into expectations of who does what and how. View 1 comment. May 06, nastya rated it it was ok Shelves: historical-fiction , 20th-century. Well this was a disappointment. My main issue was with our hero, Theseus.

The whole story is a hero's journey but the hero was so dull. And his first person narration only made it more obvious. I never felt him truly desiring anything: glory, riches, love.

He went on this journey just because he was told to. Prophecy, destiny, you see. Prose is masterful but the story was never- Well this was a disappointment. Prose is masterful but the story was never-ending, meandering with a speed of snail. I never was interested in it. But again I think it's because we have such an unexciting hero. Novel touches on interesting themes of gender clash and more general - culture clash and I liked attention to details and foreignness of this ancient world and people.

But it was not enough for me to enjoy this novel. This was my first Mary Renault and I think I'll try her again, but will skip the sequel to this one. View all 9 comments. I hoped to enjoy Mary Renault's work a lot. I'm not a classicist so much now, but I'm still interested, and a plausible retelling that tries to put a bit of history into fantastical myth is usually worth a look, in my view. And this was, in some ways: realistic up to a point, detailed, exciting at times I just really didn't like Theseus, the narrator and central character.

I thought he was smug, and it rankled, especially when he was smug about breaking women's power. There are a few positive I hoped to enjoy Mary Renault's work a lot. There are a few positive female characters -- his mother, some of the bull leapers -- but really all the time it's an attack on the power women wield.

It claims to acknowledge the importance of that female power, and perhaps if things were different with Ariadne, it would have, but her doll-like aspect, her childlike disconnection It just all rang the same note: don't put power in women's hands.

That was profoundly discomforting to read, regardless of how accurate it may be as a portrayal of the attitudes of the period. The other main problem was how much it dragged for me. Layer on layer of detail, of embroidering the stories and explaining every detail The breathless moments during the bull leaping were the best part.

View all 16 comments. Shelves: ultimate-reading-list , historical-fiction , favorites , fiction , novels , ebooks. This book was assigned to me in high school, and after that I quickly read every historical novel by Renault I could get a hold of.

It's certainly one of the books responsible for making me interested in both history and historical fiction. Along with Robert Graves, Mary Renault is my gold standard in historical fiction--but especially Renault. I think because more than any other author, she gave me the sense that the people in other times, though complex and human, aren't simply moderns in stra This book was assigned to me in high school, and after that I quickly read every historical novel by Renault I could get a hold of.

I think because more than any other author, she gave me the sense that the people in other times, though complex and human, aren't simply moderns in strange dress.

Renault's books were the first I can remember finding a sympathetic view of homosexuality. This isn't to the fore in this particular book focusing on the mythic figure of Theseus probably why it was considered tame enough to be assigned to me in my Catholic High School , but I remember in my teens her depiction of a place and era that put no negative evaluation on homosexuality in novels such as The Last of the Wine and Fire from Heaven was a revelation to me, that yes, the past is a different country.

I also remember that it took the pagan religion of the time seriously and treated it sympathetically--as just another system of belief. That too stood out to me. This particular novel also made an impression on me because, like Mary Stuart's Crystal Cave about Merlin, it took a mythical figure I assumed was pure fantasy, and wrote a plausible tale grounding Theseus in the Late Bronze Age world and making him a real and appealing fleshed-out figure telling his own story in an engaging voice.

I highly recommend both this book and the sequel, The Bull From the Sea. And her novels of Alexander the Great starting with Fire from Heaven. Just all of her historical novels are excellent, gripping reads.

This is a fictional imagining of the real life adventures of Theseus that ended up being the origin of the Ancient Greek myth of Theseus. The story follows the same outlines of the myth less the direct interventions of the gods and minus the actual existence of minotaurs.

However, that doesn't mean the gods play no role in the story. The narrative is in the first person voice of Theseus and he considers himself to be the son—in a spiritual sense—of Poseidon. His faith in Poseidon leads to prayer This is a fictional imagining of the real life adventures of Theseus that ended up being the origin of the Ancient Greek myth of Theseus. His faith in Poseidon leads to prayers and divine guidance that is similar to current day language used by Christian believers.

If this story has any historicity it would have occurred circa 12th century BC when Minoan dominance was nearing its end. As the story begins the surrounding nations are still required to pay tribute to Knossos.

Among these obligations included the sending of a certain number of young people each year to be "bull dancers"—a form of bull fighting where a number of dancers are in the arena at the same time with the bull, and their role was to entertain the crowd by teasing the bull.

This includes such things as vaulting somersaults off the top of the bull when it charges. Their life expectancy is short, and when Theseus volunteers to be a member of the contingent it is considered to be his death sentence. The title's reference to required death of Kings alludes to a reoccurring theme in the story that in order for a king to lead his people he must consent to the risk of sacrifice so "he can walk with the god.

The Hellene people don't perform this ritual, but the spirit of sacrifice on the part of their king in order to protect the welfare of his people is expected. Thus when young people are drafted to go to Knossos, Theseus, as an aspirant king in the spirit of sacrifice, volunteers to join the group. Theseus encounters the traditional ritual sacrifice of kings twice, once in Eleusis during his initial trip to Athens and once again during his return trip on the Island of Naxos.

Then at the end of the story Thesus unintentionally sacrifices the life of his father—King of Athens—by flying the black sail on his ship on his return to Athens. The suicide of his father caused by interpreting the black sail as bad news is not explicitly covered in this book, but it is inferred with the anticipation that the reader knows about the mythical story. According to this version of the story the use of the black sail was in accordance with the perceived wishes of Poseidon.

This book has a sequel, The Bull from the Sea , that continues the story of Theseus into his later life. Shelves: cream-of-the-crop , bronze-agetobce-fiction. Perhaps my most major criticism of the entire book is that it does get off to a bit of a slow start.

Renault's attention to details and wonderfully sophisticated use of language are usually a big treat, but we are thrown right into the thick of it straight from the off and what's going on is left to the reader to figure out.

As a result some readers may feel for the first couple of chapters that the conjunction of confusing situation, complex language and lack of initial events or action renders Perhaps my most major criticism of the entire book is that it does get off to a bit of a slow start. As a result some readers may feel for the first couple of chapters that the conjunction of confusing situation, complex language and lack of initial events or action renders the beginning of this book somewhat plodding.

However, once you get past that initial stumbling block, you won't be able to put this book down until the end. The plot basically follows the Theseus legend, but Renault is not afraid to take detours and make alterations in order to make the story more historical than mythological and for the sake of plausibility and believability.

Obviously this walks a fine line between improving on and butchering the legend, but Renault judges that line to perfection. She even explains why she deviates from the conventional idea of Theseus as a huge, muscled man after the model of Herakles; namely because a youth chosen for bull-leaping in Krete would have had to have been slight, quick and agile rather than big and hulking, and because Theseus is often shown in close hand-to-hand combat with brutish monsters and it seems unlikely that he could have overcome them by sheer strength alone, more likely that he was a slighter build and relied on clever wrestling tricks of the trade rather than pushing power.

The plot follows a good arc, though perhaps since it is strongly based on the legend we cannot attribute that pleasing character growth and story arc to Renault alone. One of the arcs is in the way that the setting becomes ever more metropolitan; we begin in Theseus' homeland, a bit of a provincial backwater of a kingdom to be honest, moving on to the city of Athens which is a glittering jewel of the Peloponnese as portrayed by Renault at this period, and finally Theseus ends up on the highly developed island of Krete.

More than anything else though, the arc of the story is Theseus' coming of age. From a boy struggling to understand his place in the world in Troizen and believing that he is the son of Poseidon, to the frustrated year-king of Eleusis where he learns to use his wits to earn his powers and effect change, to the heir of Aigeus in Athens where he must learn the responsibilities that come with his position, and to the palace at Knossos where Theseus becomes true leader of his own little microcosm of society.

The developments in the plot seem natural and unforced, nothing leaps completely out of the implausible blue, but that's not to say that the story is in any way predictable - unless you've read the legend of Theseus before of course, but even then don't expect anything! The quality of the writing is very high, but yet I found it fairly accessible as well, albeit the potential to come across as slightly plodding and slow in the first few chapters.

In terms of historical setting, Mary Renault's novel is completely groundbreaking. The legend of Theseus is a well known story in Greek myth, the most famous episode in his tale being his confrontation with the fantastical half-man half-bull creature known as the Minotaur in the bowels of a twisted maze called the Labyrinth and aided by a ball of twine given to him by Princess Ariadne.

There have been many retellings of the legend, but Mary Renault's is the first attempt to find the history behind the myth. Given this, this might be a good point to also discuss historical accuracy. Keeping in mind that this was published in and our knowledge about this period of history has since moved on by over half a century, it's clear that Renault has put significant effort into the historical accuracy of the piece, and even some of the scenarios which we now know to be incorrect were the accepted interpretation by the academic community based on the knowledge of There's no magic involved, only plausible human stories.

Great stuff, highly recommended. Sorry, folks, I'm giving up on this book at page Normally if I've gotten this far into a book, I'll carry on until the end, but I cannot bring myself to read the final pages. The first half of this book falls flat. There is no interest, no engaging plot, no character building. It just drags on without seeming to have any purpose. I will give the book the positive that the plot picks up a bit about halfway through, when Theseus becomes a bull dancer in Crete.

I thought that perhaps I coul Sorry, folks, I'm giving up on this book at page I thought that perhaps I could learn to enjoy this book once we hit this section, but it hasn't happened. Renault's writing is convoluted, confusing and overly-complicated.

Her sentences wander without needing to. Perhaps it is considered by some to be poetic or descriptive; I found it infuriating. You don't need to say 50 words when 10 words will suffice. I often got to the end of a sentence and forgot where it has started. Sometimes I couldn't even figure out what she was trying to say, because my brain switched off. This was particularly bothersome because she often hid an important plot point in the middle of a lengthy description.

The syntax was often so convoluted, I had to read some paragraphs two or three times to figure out what was actually happening. I don't need this from a piece of historical fiction that I'm purely reading for fun. Then we have the fact that our main character, Theseus, is unlikeable. A character can be problematic and annoying and terrible, but I can still love them.

Achilles is a case in point. That boy had some serious issues and yet I love him. Theseus was just too bland to make up for his misogyny and arrogance. He bored me. So I'm afraid I'm not going to waste any more of my life reading this book, it's just not worth it.

I'm going against popular opinion, so perhaps you'll love it. But this book is just not for me. View all 15 comments. May 11, Ms. Shelves: fiction , history. Imagine Theseus not as some action hero or an exemplar of classical pedagogy, but as a real person. Imagine him as a 6-year old in awe of Poseidon with his many epithets: earth-shaker, wave gatherer, shepherd of ships, horse lover.

This Theseus has a charming innocence with his firm belief that Poseidon is his father and the father of the unbroken King Stallion who rules his grandfather's pastures.

The child enters the pasture to greet his brother, to the horror of the head groom and the other s Imagine Theseus not as some action hero or an exemplar of classical pedagogy, but as a real person. The child enters the pasture to greet his brother, to the horror of the head groom and the other servants. Author Mary Renault employs a first person point of view which permits the reader to experience the excitement, disappointment and discoveries of the child as he matures. He will become an astute judge of character, an agile athlete, and a pragmatic strategist in the bronze age world of ancient Greece.

It's an alien world to the modern reader. For most, death was early and brutal. However, old age with its infirmities and indignities was scarcely better, and possibly much worse.

Priest and ruler were the two faces of pragmatism and piety. No single word in the English language summarizes the interconnected values that kept these societies in harmony. It is the task the gods allot us, and the share of glory they allow; the limits we must not pass; and our appointed end. Moira is all of this. The rituals and customs are empty without the consent Pittheus states. Theseus will find that moira is possibility and direction.

Without its attendant humility, ambition is misdirected. Moira is the thing that separates men from animals yet connects them to a natural order. Each event in Theseus' adventures will represent another expression of moira. The bronze age is a fragmented world. Theseus' home city of Troizen is dedicated to Poseidon. Eleusis practices a more archaic religion. Dia Demeter , the earth mother, is ascendent; a priestess-queen is ruler.

Her husband the king is sacrificed each spring and his supplanter is her new consort for the year. The ritual is a revolting spectacle. Both consent and piety are absent. He is the scapegoat. Looking at him, they see only the year's troubles, the crop that failed, the barren cows, the sickness. They want to kill their troubles with him, and start again. As for the body of the victim, it will be plowed back into the earth as an offering for a successful harvest.

The king does not even have a name. Each king goes by the title of Kerkyon. Troizen is also contrasted to the advanced sophistication of the Minoans. Like Eleusis, the supreme deity is the earth goddess Dia.

No one survives a complete year in this sport which was once performed by the Minoans themselves in honor of Poseidon. Now, the Minoans place avid wagers on whether any of the dancers will be killed. Although he admires the Minoan artistic achievements, Theseus observes that the Minoans are like children attracted to every new fashion.

Renault animates these characters by giving them both historical plausibility and psychological resonance.

The minotaur is a man of monstrous greed and corruption. Theseus hates him but not just for his arrogant insolence. He is an affront to the ethic of moira. But the man wanted it for itself, to put down other men, to fatten his pride with eating theirs like the great spider that feeds upon the lesser. A moment of terrible epiphany reveals to him that she has a separate moira and motivates his decision to leave her.

As we do today, Theseus is constantly struggling with the problem of how to live his life. Does it matter if Theseus invokes Poseidon's intervention as the cause of the landward current that prevents him from drowning?

Is it unreasonable in an earthquake prone land, to attribute catastrophe to Poseidon's wrath? These explanations reflect a universal desire to impose order on a chaotic world with uncertain outcomes. Renault assumes the reader is familiar with the story of Theseus. That foreknowledge gives weight to the omens and curses that darken the book and add momentum to the story. Renault envelopes the reader completely in the ethos of the Greek world.

View 2 comments. Theseus believes that he is the son of the sea-god Poseidon, and when he discovers that he can sense earthquakes, he considers this is proof of his heritage. He decides to travel to Athens, but along the way he unexpectedly becomes the King of Eleusis.

Surely it is this. He does not know whether he will survive, or whether he will return to Athens to see his father.

He pays homage to Poseidon, but recognises the other gods who are part of the world in which he lives. A bound is set to our knowing, and wisdom is not to search beyond it. Men are only men. Oct 24, Elizabeth K. I've picked this up now and again over the years, but never read the whole thing. I have this precious Pocket Books paperback edition, I'm guessing circa - sadly it's very fragile and crumbly and it took quite a beating being carried around in my purse before I realized it.

The blurb on the back reads as follows: Brave, aggressive, tough, proud, and highly sexed, Theseus faces danger after danger and overcomes them all.

His adventures will take you into a world of primitive orgies, sparkling I've picked this up now and again over the years, but never read the whole thing. His adventures will take you into a world of primitive orgies, sparkling jewels and gleaming bodies -- and with Theseus you will live through the hot fights and swift passionate loves of pagan times.

The hoot of the thing is that it's quite chaste, all the highly sexed parts are off-screen, and the closest we come to gleaming bodies is a long passage that talks about being up all night, diving like dolphins into the depths. I think that's a metaphor. Swift, passionate loves of pagan times! Recommended: Oh, why not? It's probably not as good if you don't have this exact edition, however.

The King Must Die, her first, is a masterpiece of evocation. In ancient Greece, the mythical or was he? Theseus becomes a brave hero who penetrates the infamous labyrinth of Crete, where the Minotaur lurks, awaiting his annual portion of Athenian boys and girls to devour. She so fully conjures up a long-gone world, so that you ARE there. The sounds, smells, buildings, customs, come to life. One impressive feat of reimagining is the way the author gives her characters a historical backdrop of their own — the previous races and tribes of humans who lived there before them.

We so easily fall into the trap of thinking that human history was new 2, years ago. Two warnings: lots of sexism and killing of animals. I suppose the historical novelist is in a dilemma: to create a lost world, she must bring its beliefs to life, and in that, Renault succeeds brilliantly. Brilliant retelling of the story of Theseus! I started this novel more as a duty than as enjoyment, but was soon plunged into the world of Bronze Age Greece. I can see why this novel has survived all these years and why Renault is a classic.

However I have to ask myself, were this novel published in for the first time, would it be as popular as it was when first published in ? In Troizen, Theseus finds out he is heir to the king of Athens, by his strength in lifting a sword [similar mot Brilliant retelling of the story of Theseus!

In Troizen, Theseus finds out he is heir to the king of Athens, by his strength in lifting a sword [similar motif as King Arthur! He travels there through Eleusis. The inhabitants are worshippers of a Mother Goddess, and are a matrilineal society. When in Athens, he is recognized as heir by King Aegius and cursed by the priestess Medea, who tries to poison him.

Her chilling words: "You will cross water to dance in blood. You will be King of the victims. You will tread the maze through fire, and you will tread it through darkness.

He becomes a bull-dancer and leader of the little group. While there, the Earth Bull is aroused resulting in a severe earthquake. After he kills the Minotaur, he and many other bull-dancers escape Crete to Naxos. Ariadne is left there--not abandoned cruelly as the original myth has it, but the culture there is close to the Cretan. The young people journey homeward, dropping off bull-dancers at their homes on the way. The book was much better than I thought it would be.

It has not aged, in my opinion. I liked the author's taking elements from the myth, such as the Minotaur, the Labyrinth and Theseus's leaving Ariadne on Naxos and using them in her story in new, logical, completely unexpected ways. Her language was nothing short of marvelous.

To me, there was a perfect balance of description and dialogue. I plan to read the sequel, The Bull from the Sea. Shelves: historical , fantasy , mythology , four-stars. Let me start off by saying that I have not even read The Iliad yet and I am ashamed. I made the mistake of buying a beautiful, leather bound edition of The Odyssey and two hundred pages in, I realized that I was reading the follow up of The Iliad.

I knew what happened in it so I assumed, "Oh, perhaps they're going to go back to the Trojan war events throughout this one Yeah, I'm pretty stupid. I was familiar with the legend of Theseus well, t 3. I was familiar with the legend of Theseus well, the main bits but I was surprised to read something different. At the very end of the book, there is a summary of the actual legend and I was like "Ah, that's what I remember!

What Mary Renault wrote portrayed Theseus as a hero. He was actually a likable character, and I don't know if I like that.

I don't mind that he's being shown in a different light; Greek mythology retellings have the right to change it up a little, but his character was Based on the short summary on the back, he's far from a righteous person and throughout reading Renault's work, he's written to be a motivational and selfless leader.

Renault twisted his deeds to look like he had done them with a heavy, regretful heart, but we all know he's a complete douche for abandoning Ariadne on Naxos. Not cool, dude, especially after she helped you. But if Renault had really wanted to show or should I say create a different, good side to Theseus, I guess I can deal with that.

The actual legend is more complicated and well, screwed up. I don't really know how to review this! I love the writing, the descriptions and the flow of words were very nice to read.

The plot is informative, interesting, and engaging in some parts but it didn't keep me gasping for more. The ending slowed down for me a little bit so I spent more time there but overall, I enjoyed it. I am always excited to find a new author to admire. Of course, Mary Renault is not new to the world. She was born in London in and died in , having built for herself a reputation for vivid historical novels, many of them set in Ancient Greece.

She was named by J F Kennedy as his favorite author. I have meant to read her for years and am so pleased to have found a wonderful writer with a great deal of scholarship and intelligence backing up her fiction. The King Must Die is the first of I am always excited to find a new author to admire. The King Must Die is the first of two novels covering the life of Theseus, a legendary hero of ancient Athens. Mary Renault takes quite some literary license with the legend, the major one being that Theseus was not of heroic size but was of short stature.

She explains the archeological evidence for this in her Author's Note, painting him as "a light-weight; brave and aggressive, physically tough and quick; highly sexed and rather promiscuous, touchily proud, but with a feeling for the underdog; resembling Alexander in his precocious competence, gift of leadership, and romantic sense of destiny.

She makes this complex character come to life, carefully depicting the ways he learned to use his mind as well as his courage and strength to overcome enemies and obstacles.

I loved having Theseus fleshed out as it were and the daily world of ancient Athens and Crete made real. I already have the second volume, The Bull From the Sea , on my shelf. I look forward to reading her other novels about Plato, Alexander and more. Seeing that I love Madeline Miller's novels and that Mary Renault is also known for having written Greek mythology-based fiction of outstanding quality, I set out to compare the two.

Madeline Miller remains my favorite, hands down. There is formidable brain power on display in The King Must Die. Now brains are nice, to be sure, in fact I wouldn't have it otherwise, but where's the heart, here? This book offers one of the most unfortunate though certainly not talentless first-person narratives I Seeing that I love Madeline Miller's novels and that Mary Renault is also known for having written Greek mythology-based fiction of outstanding quality, I set out to compare the two.

This book offers one of the most unfortunate though certainly not talentless first-person narratives I've ever encountered. Our man Theseus comes across as completely self-centered, entitled and erratic; some kind of big child, or suburban douche. No qualms about the writing per se, in fact Renault's vocabulary is top-notch and the whole book was visibly well-researched, but her storytelling skills leave me completely cold. All of the epic locations, people, objects and pieces of lore brought into play by Mary Renault throughout this novel are rich with legend and call to your sense of wonder, but then as Captain Obnoxious introduces them at length to you, always in relation to himself, of course, he somehow manages to rob them of their magic.

I don't think men in power have to be so impossibly abrasive; smart as this was, to me it quickly amounted to a kind of surreal caricature, though a very serious one, with full intellectual weapons deployed, not to mention academic meticulosity.

On the plus side, my curiosity is now sated. View all 5 comments. The King Must Die is the tale of Theseus told as if it were realistic, historical fiction. However, the author introduces more plausible accounts for the instances throughout the myth. I really enjoyed how the author tells this story, but maybe that was because of my bias and soft-spot for all historical fiction.

However, I did enjoy the idea of creating plausibl The King Must Die is the tale of Theseus told as if it were realistic, historical fiction. However, I did enjoy the idea of creating plausible events that could have grown and became glorified into a myth, and I thought the idea was very well executed here. I recommend this book to anybody interested in Greek mythology and the tale of Theseus, or anybody looking for something fun or relaxing to read.

So you might want to read that first so you can appreciate the way Renault reworks them into her own story. This is the story of Theseus, a prince of Athens who allied his country with its Spartan neighbors and then traveled to Crete to challenge the minotaur.

The author, Mary Renault, stays true to the legend, introducing her heroic main character as a young, insecure boy and following him through teenage trials and into adulthood. She breathes life into his character, showing the weaknesses as well as the strengths of a charismatic man, one with the humility of a true hero.

Renault's Theseus relies o This is the story of Theseus, a prince of Athens who allied his country with its Spartan neighbors and then traveled to Crete to challenge the minotaur. Renault's Theseus relies on his intuition as well as his brawn and brains.

This youthful king is willing to acknowledge the guidance of a supreme power - the Olympian gods - and to follow it wherever it leads. The book lives into this twentieth first century because it is more than a seamless blend of sword play and bodice ripping.

Renault writes with a deep understanding of the Hellene culture and a candid appreciation for the natural beauty of human sexuality in its many forms. I highly recommend this book to Grecophiles, travelers, and readers who appreciate the timeless current of history. It is the yardstick for all mythology retellings. The Theseus myth becomes a real narrative story, with the magical parts contemporized in interesting ways and centered in historical understanding of the Mediterranean.